Day 9: Continued
Is Buc-ees as amazing as everyone says? Yes! We got the Beaver nuggets, the brisket, fudge, and candied nuts. All delicious. We shopped and got a few things to bring home to the kids. Also the restrooms are the nicest gas station bathrooms I've ever seen. For the rest of the trip, all pit stops were at Buc-ees!
It was hotter than hell...LITERALLY...hell cannot be hotter than Waco, Texas in August. Those faces are grimaces. That's real Texas heat pain. 111 degrees with 100 percent humidity.
We also stopped in College Station to show Bryn Texas A&M. I love that school! In another life I would have liked to go there. It was move in day and all of the students and their families were unloading and moving in. We drove all over and checked out the campus. So impressive!! Then it was onto Waco.
Our family has been fans of Chip and Joanna Gaines for years. Ailey and I have been to Magnolia before with my Mom but no one else has been. Tyler and Bryn both wanted to see what Magnolia, the Silos, and Waco were all about.
Magnolia had grown a bit more since I was last there. The church is done and the little shops were new. We've watched Chip and Joanna on their home show and cooking show and on the Magnolia network so it was fun for us to see things in person. It was pretty melancholy for me since I was last here with my mom. We walked into the main store and it was very Victoria McClellan. Like overwhelmingly. Sometimes grief is punch in the face.
We bought a few things, got drinks, and then continued walking around the grounds.
The church that they renovated was really beautiful and *blessedly* air-conditioned.
The new little row of shops were cute but they all carried the same merchandise as the main store; just broken up into subcategories. One little shop was bath and body, one clothing, one paper products etc. That was a little disappointing.
After we had seen all that there was to see at the Silos; we headed over to the Dr. Pepper Museum. We didn't go there the last time that I was in town. Bryn is a HUGE Dr. Pepper fan so we were happy to add it to our Waco tour.
The tour is self-guided. The original building was super cool architecturally but it had a very creepy vibe. All three of us agreed. We laughed and said, "Maybe it's haunted." We were also the only people in there except for the woman at the front desk.
When we walked up the stairs to the third floor we ran into the janitor and nearly gave him a heart attack. He about jumped out of his skin. By then we were convinced that the place had to be haunted. The third floor was part of the tour. It wasn't off limits to the public so it shouldn't have been too surprising to see people up there.
We finished our tour and walked across the courtyard to the gift shop and café to get our free Dr. Pepper. When we walked in what did we immediately see?
Bingo! We were right!
Dealing with the ghostie-ness of the lake house has made our ghost senses sharp! There was another weird incident in the café. That place is so haunted.
There was one place on the Waco tour that I REALLY wanted to go...Fabled bookstore. This is a bookstore that I follow online. I also follow its main book buyer. It's mentioned all the time on book podcasts that I love. I literally had to see this store in person.
It did not disappoint. This place is magic! I was hoping to get a glimpse of the infamous Elizabeth Barnhill but alas I didn't see her. Still. It was amazing!! It is truly the best bookstore that I have ever been too.
But the merest glimpse of one portion of the store.
My kind of bookstores are moody, have comfy chairs all over the place, a café with tables, cool lighting, nooks and crannies, lots of shelf talkers on the bookshelves, and an incredible kids section. Fabled has all of that and more!
Check out the entrance to the children's section....
You go through the wardrobe into Narnia. MAGIC!!!
Hands down my favorite bookstore so far!
After that we drove to San Antonio which was going to be our home base for the next two days. We got there in the golden glow of evening and San Antonio was stunning! Our hotel was right across from the Alamo. This was the view from our room.
Tyler booked us at a beautiful historic hotel. The location was perfection!! Our room was so cool too. Check out the bathroom...
We literally had a view of the Alamo from the bathroom too! Fabulous!! We had another late night of walking around and getting the lay of the land before it got dark and we collapsed into bed!
Day 10
We were up early the next morning to try to beat the Texas heat. We went straight to the River Walk. I have such great memories of coming here with my family. When we lived in Houston we would always come to San Antonio for New Years. I loved the River Walk with all the Christmas lights during the holidays. That was always such a fun time!
Downtown San Antonio was looking GORGEOUS!
We were the first boat ride of the day.
We had a great river guide. It was so fun to hear the history of San Antonio and see the beautiful architecture.
After the River Walk it was onto the Alamo. Tyler is a history buff so he was really excited to explore the Alamo and Bryn had just studied it in school so she was excited too.
The grounds are so beautiful.
We did the tour inside and went to the museum next door. We also saw some live reenactments and demonstrations.
The Alamo was a highlight for all of us.
After the Alamo we had lunch at my favorite Torchy's Tacos. It was as good as I remembered!! Give me all the Tex-Mex!!
Tyler and Bryn loved it as I knew they would!
After lunch we headed out into the Texas Hill Country to go to Fredricksburg another favorite place! Tyler and Bryn were quite surprised at how "hilly" the Texas Hill Country is. There are some surprisingly big hills!
Stores similar to this are more common now but in 1990 there wasn't anything like her shops. She was a vintage décor pioneer and trendsetter. My mom and I would be beside ourselves for weeks after a visit to Fredricksburg. I treated myself to a beautifully bound botanical book that had dried plants and flowers stuck in the pages throughout. Someone's lovely collection. A beautiful keepsake of a beautiful place and beautiful memories shared with beautiful people and beautiful ghosts. After Fredricksburg it was back to San Antonio. We stopped briefly in Bourne, Texas for pie at Tootie Pies.
Back in San Antonio I showed Tyler and Bryn the wonder that is HEB grocery stores. Man I wish we had grocery stores like that here in Spokane! We also drove by the San Antonio Temple. It is in a stunning location! So beautiful!
I really love San Antonio. I could live here if it wasn't so freaking hot.
And...what was for dinner? What else? Whataburger. A Texas favorite!
Let's end the debate now. The ranking of the best burgers are as follows:
1.) In-N-Out
2.) Shake Shack
3.) Whataburger
Day 11
We woke up and had to packed up. It was time to head back to Houston. It was only after we checked out that Tyler and Bryn told me that they looked up our hotel after we checked in and found out that it is renowned for being haunted. Glad they kept that little fact from me. I guess our haunted Texas tour continued. Our hotel was actually built on part of the battlegrounds of the Alamo where one of the most brutal battles with Santa Anna occurred. I guess guests have claimed to hear cannon fire, screams, and have seen soldiers. Tyler and Bryn claimed that they were freaked out a few times while walking the halls at night for ice and snacks. Let me just add that they also left me there alone several times. Sheesh. Thankfully I had no ghostly sightings. LOL.
We snacked on our way back to Houston. Donuts in a little Texas town. Another stop at Buc-ees for brisket tacos, kolaches, banana pudding, and fudge. We drove by the Houston Temple. This wasn't built when I lived here. So pretty.
We had an evening flight so we were able to grab early dinner(s) while we were in Houston. Bryn wanted one more round of In-N-Out and we wanted another round of Torchy's. So good! While we were waiting for our flight in the Houston airport...Tyler said, "Look whose here?!" I looked around and there at our gate in all of his silver fox resplendent glory was President Dieter F. Uchtdorf. That was incredibly exciting! I've never seen a general authority in the wild. Let alone an apostle!
While at our gate, he took off his tie, loosened his collar, took off his jacket, and slung it over his shoulder. He's the coolest.
But not only was he at our gate; he was on our flight. We literally sat two rows behind him. He was so kind. While boarding he smiled at us as we said hello and greeted us too. He spoke to Bryn a bit more. I loved that! It was such a sweet experience. I got to spy on him all flight. I could see what he ordered and hear what he said. He was sitting next to someone who wasn't a member of the church and they had the nicest NORMAL conversation. At one point he put on a fleece hoodie and put the hood up over his head and went to sleep. He drank a lot of water. He went to the bathroom. He ate a meal. He requested the cookies. LOL. He was so kind to all of the flight crew. I kept thinking "If the people on this flight had any idea who was onboard?!" I did feel safer flying since there was an extra pilot onboard. Ha ha! It was a cool experience all around it made the flight much more interesting. :)
This is what we flew into coming home. Spokane (and the outlying areas) were burning. Medical Lake was decimated. Ailey and Reilly had called to tell us all about it. Our ward was asking for donations and our stake center and our church building were turned into Red Cross shelters for people who had to evacuate. It was heartbreaking.
This was the air quality for the next several days as firefighters worked to contain the fires.
(Whew. I'm finally done blogging about our trip. I am so behind on all of the things that I want to document. As I type it is currently DECEMBER! ONWARD!)
